Israel Bars Chomsky From West Bank, May Reconsider

Submitted by Doug Lederman on May 17, 2010 - 3:00am

Israeli authorities on Sunday barred Noam Chomsky, the linguistics scholar and political activist who has repeatedly criticized Israel, from entering the West Bank to give a lecture at Birzeit University, Reuters[1] reported. Mustafa al-Barghouti, who had arranged the visit, called Israel's refusal to let Chomsky enter from Jordan "a fascist action, amounting to suppression of freedom of expression." The Associated Press[2] reported that Israeli officials said late Sunday that "a misunderstanding" may have been responsible, and that he may be permitted to enter in time for him to give his talk, scheduled for today.